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Everton of England midfielder, Alex Iwobi gained the brightest spotlight and review from among the lot of Nigerian players involved in English Premier League matches on Saturday.
Megasportsarena.com reports that the brightest spot was reserved for Iwobi after the former Arsenal playmaker was heavily involved in the build-up that led to Everton’s winning goal against Manchester United.
Iwobi’s day in the sun came on an evening William Troost-Ekong and Peter Oghenekaro Etebo were both not dressed by Watford, while Emmanuel Dennis could only play as a substitute for The Hornets, who had Samuel Kalu on their bench for 90 minutes.
On the other hand, Iwobi got full duration action for the fourth consecutive game and his efforts helped The Toffees beat The red Devils 1-0 at Goodison Park, thanks to Anthony Gordon’s 27th minute deflected effort.
Iwobi went into the match highlights when he laid the ball off to Gordon, whose shot deflected off Harry Maguire and into the net.
Gordon’s goal, Manchester United had two chances to take the lead but were denied by two excellent saves from England number one Jordan Pickford.
Iwobi impressed in the second half, tracking back to help out with defensive duties as Manchester United pushed for an equaliser.
It was a different scenario for the Nigerian quartet at Vicarage Road, where Troost-Ekong and Etebo were left out of the squad, while Kalu was a non-playing substitute in The Hornets’ 3-0 loss to Leeds United.
Goals from Raphinha, Rodrigo and Jack Harrison gave Leeds victory over relegation-threatened Watford, who were forced into a fist half change with Dennis replacing the injured Juan Hernandez.
Same evening in the EPL, Nathan Tella was an unused substitute for Southampton and they fell in a 6-0 loss to visiting Chelsea at St Mary’s Stadium.
The Blues had a 4-0 lead at halftime with efforts from Marcos Alonso, Mason Mount, Timo Werner and Kai Havertz, following which they got further goals from Werner and Mount in the second half.
Arsenal missed the chance to get back into the top four after a shock 2-1 loss to Brighton & Hove at Emirates Stadium, their third defeat in the last four top-flight matches.
Miguel Azeez was a non-playing substitute for The Gunners, while Nigerian-born central defender, Odel Offiah made Brighton’s squad for the third time this season without getting any minute on the turf.
Leandro Trossard fired a first time strike from 12 yards out to open the scoring in the 29th minute and Enock Mwepu hammered a half volley into the bottom corner to double the advantage midway through the second half.
Martin Odegaard pulled a goal back a minute from time to set up a nervy ending to the game, but The Gunners were unable to find an equaliser, a serious blow to their top four ambitions.
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